1990 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Rosé - France, ChampagneQuite a strong Pinot character showing: floral, red fruit and delightfully much earthiness. Full bodied and concentrated, relatively ripe and rich but still with enough acidity to be moreish. Nice! IMO at a very nice stage in evolution with a mix of all I like about young Champagne and all I like about old. No hurry.

1999 Jacques Selosse Champagne Millésimé - France, ChampagneSelosse has always been a producer that I have found difficult: almost everyone else seems to rave about them yet I can't seem to appreciate them. So sharing a bottle with die-hard Selosse fans was fun because they could educate me as to what I have been missing! Unfortunately, I still didn't become a fan. Served from a Burgundy fish-bowl. It smelled more like an over-oaked and overly concentrated white Burgundy than Champagne: toffee and vanilla/oaky sweetness and ripe, sweet and slightly oxidative fruit. Nicely crisp on the palate but sadly all that acidity can't quite lighten the wine so it remains ponderous and overly heavy. Interminable finish. Yes, I finally learned why people rave about Selosse, but I seek completely different things in Champagne.

NV Dehours Champagne Grande Réserve Brut - France, Champagne, Montagne de Reims, ChampagneQuite a nice floral aroma, but also much tart green apple. Very lively and refreshing - bracing even. I liked this much more than the others around the table - but you do have to appreciate a tart style in your fizz to enjoy this (and some cold meats or other fatty foods should be ingested with it).

Back in the day, when I insisted as a buyer on doing blind tastings, Dom Perignon always surprised me. I never really got excited when I tasted it, but somehow it always ended up in the top ranks. Never once first, but always up in the top ranks.

Of the two iterations I do prefer Dom Perignon Rose, for those red fruit characters that Otto cited.

For me, I always expect too much from a wine, any wine, that is hyped the way DP is, and this almost always leads to disappointment. On the other hand, I just tasted a non-vintage Finca Flichman (Mendoza, Argentina) Extra Brut Rosé sparkler: 80% Chardonnay, 20% Malbec ~$12 - really surprisingly nice wine. The best thing about Dom Perignon is going over to pick it up.